Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

The ladies get close to the 'Jerry to the D'. - Contributed Photo

He is known as the Vibemaster Jerry D and he has been working on radio for more than a decade.

Jerry Davy has extended his infectious vibe on FAME FM, RJR 94 and Radio 2 FM, but for now the man who says his aim is to become "a successful and independent media and entertainment mogul" has left radio and is in hot pursuit of his dreams.

Jerry D describes himself as being "creative and spontaneous with an ability to read his audience", something he says is essential to success in radio. However, some of these characteristics were being stifled and he cites this as one of the main reasons for his recent departure from the airwaves.

"I left radio because we (management) were not seeing eye to eye on several issues that I felt were very important. That is the essence of it. I needed my work to be properly recognised and I wasn't satisfied an dem ting deh tek away yuh energy," Jerry D said.

In terms of his future on radio, Jerry D says "options are always open and I am very appreciative of the RJR Communications Group for providing me with the training and experience that I've had, but now there is a nice energy about pursuing the dreams that one has. But I leave the radio option open."

Since leaving radio the Vibemaster has taken up a more prominent role as an emcee, but Jerry D says that was actually where he started before getting into radio.

Lip synch competitions

"It was out of Manning Cup football. I was giving back to Campion College, my alma mater. I used to go to the school's assembly to instill a spirit of cheering among the Campionites. This in turn, led me to be the lead 'cheerleader' for the football team (1988-89) and sometimes we rented buses for the students to go to the stadium. Out of that the Campion body began to ask me to do other things at the school, like concerts, fashion shows, lip synch competitions and basically any entertainment event. I started to MC and this propelled me into radio, as people kept saying why don't you try radio," he explained. Additionally, "as an emcee, my friend David Muir suggested that I use a deeper sound, more bass in my voice and from trying to become a better MC it was then suggested that I try and get into radio. I called up François a couple times until I got an audition and I started out on FAME FM in about 1991."

Jerry D says he always believed in "eating two food, legally," so during his time at FAME, he also held the position of systems administrator at the Planning Institute of Jamaica, up until about 1999.

In the 1998-99 academic year he did the diploma in media and communication and won the Jamaica National Award for Radio Production. "I won a few other awards, like number one deejay on radio in 1999 and again in 2000," he said.

Jerry D says he can recall a number of good moments and the bad ones were few and far apart.

A trendsetter

He says his best moments on radio "really have to do with the love that people gave to me, the many features that I implemented like 'Dr. Love', and I love the fact that I was a trendsetter in terms of creative programming. One of my worst moments has to do with the lack of creative managerial input. They don't put in the necessary infrastructure."

Currently Jerry D is focusing on his new company, JWerks Interactive Media. "I'm now into providing media content, audio and visual content, for Jamaica and the Caribbean diaspora. I need to do for myself and not just sit down and talk about what other people are not doing. I still do outside promotions with another company that I will not call the name, but I have done stuff for Mothers Patties, Ritz-Carlton staff fun day, Beenie Man's launch for 'Summer Sizzle', 'Saddle To The East', Jamaica's 44th Independence Celebrations in Washington and I'm going up in about three weeks time for Jamaica Jerk Festival in Florida," he said.

Jerry D says with all this going on he still wants "to be able to mould young talent because I need to contribute to the stock of youthful needs and I'm good at radio and emceeing and I want to pass on the trait and leave that as my legacy."